Chase Strangio is an American lawyer and activist. Strangio became a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 2013. Strangio was the first out trans lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court in United States v. Skrmetti.
Strangio has provided legal assistance in trans civil rights cases involving Chelsea Manning, Gavin Grimm, and Aimee Stephens. Strangio has also been involved in stopping federal and state-level legislation targeting trans people, especially minors.
Among many honors, Strangio was named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people in 2020.
Background
Strangio was born October 29, 1982, grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from Grinnell College in 2004. After working as a paralegal at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Strangio graduated from Northeastern University School of Law in 2010. Strangio then had a fellowship from the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) until joining the ACLU.
Strangio is the subject of the 2025 documentary Heightened Scrutiny.
References
Hollar, Julie (July 23, 2025). ‘They Were Able to Pass These Bills Because of Anti-Trans Media Bias’: Documentary filmmaker Sam Feder on the backlash to trans visibility. FAIR https://fair.org/home/they-were-able-to-pass-these-bills-because-of-anti-trans-media-bias/
Oller, Jacob (July 14, 2025). The Supreme Court failed trans people, but Heightened Scrutiny reveals how the media targeted them. AV Club https://www.avclub.com/heightened-scrutiny-documentary-atlantic-new-york-times-targeted-trans-people
Winkelman, Natalia (January 30, 2025). New doc follows Newton native Chase Strangio, the first openly trans person to orally argue a case before the Supreme Court. Boston Globe https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/30/arts/heightened-security-chase-strangio/
Horton, Adrian (January 28, 2025). ‘A reminder that we can resist’: hard-hitting documentary takes aim at anti-trans rhetoric. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jan/28/heightened-scrutiny-review-documentary
Larson, Erik (March 16, 2022). This Lawyer Is Fighting a Deeply Personal Battle for Trans Rights. Bloomberg News https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-16/transgender-lawyer-leads-aclu-s-fight-as-bills-target-trans-rights-healthcare
Gill-Peterson, Jules (September 13, 2021). From Gender Critical to QAnon: Anti-Trans Politics and the Laundering of Conspiracy: Stated disavowal of their own bias doesn’t account for how liberals rhetorically shelter political violence. The New Inquiry https://thenewinquiry.com/from-gender-critical-to-qanon-anti-trans-politics-and-the-laundering-of-conspiracy/
Phillips, Carmen (March 23, 2021). Also.Also.Also: Chase Strangio and Kimberly Drew Are the Cutest Queer Love Story You’ll See Today! Autostraddle https://www.autostraddle.com/chase-strangio-kimberly-drew-dating/
Cox, Laverne (September 22, 2020). Chase Strangio: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020. Time https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888158/chase-strangio/
Vanderhoof, Erin (September 23, 2019). Emmys 2019: Laverne Cox’s Political Rainbow Purse Had a Secret Message. Vanity Fair https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/09/emmys-2019-laverne-cox-rainbow-purse
Gordon-Loebl, Naomi (November 9, 2018). Trump’s War on Trans Rights: A Q&A With Chase Strangio. The Nation https://www.thenation.com/article/chase-strangio-interview-trans-rights/ [archive]
Compton, Julie (June 7, 2017). #Pride30: ACLU Lawyer Chase Strangio Is Fighting for Trans Justice. NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out-pride30/pride30-aclu-lawyer-chase-strangio-fighting-trans-justice-n763581
Michaels, Samantha (May 2017). Chelsea Manning’s Lawyer Knows How to Fight Transgender Discrimination—He’s Lived It. Mother Jones https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/05/chase-strangio-gavin-grimm-transgender-lawyer-aclu/ [archive]
Tourjee, Diana (September 27, 2016). The Trans Lawyer Fighting to Keep His Community Alive. Broadly / Vice https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/chase-strangio-the-trans-lawyer-fighting-to-keep-his-community-alive
Anti-trans coverage
Douthat, Ross (December 4, 2025). The Shifting Politics of Transgender Rights: The lawyer and activist Chase Strangio on cultural divisions and common ground. Interesting Times / New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/opinion/transgender-rights-strangio-douthat.html
Ryan, Benjamin (July 29, 2025). ‘Heightened Scrutiny’ Scapegoats The New York Times For the ACLU’s Loss In Skrmetti. Hazard Ratio https://benryan.substack.com/p/heightened-scrutiny-scapegoats-the
Ryan, Benjamin (June 24, 2025). “Insidious”: The ACLU’s Chase Strangio Slams The New York Times In Leaked Audio. Hazard Ratio https://benryan.substack.com/p/insidious-the-aclus-chase-strangio
Confessore, Nick (June 19, 2025). How the Transgender Rights Movement Bet on the Supreme Court and Lost. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/19/magazine/scotus-transgender-care-tennessee-skrmetti.html
Schlott, Rikki (March 20, 2024). It’s shameful that the ACLU is now promoting ideology over free speech. New York Post https://nypost.com/2024/03/20/opinion/the-aclu-is-shamefully-promoting-ideology-over-free-speech/
Rosen, Christine (June 2021). The Reality Distortion Field. Commentary https://www.commentary.org/articles/christine-rosen/media-distorts-transgender-and-race-issues/
Dansky, Kara (May 2021). Questions for GQ Magazine and the ACLU.https://www.karadansky.com/read/questions-for-gq-magazine-and-the-aclu
Singal, Jesse (May 6, 2021). ACLU Lawyer: Teehee, My Organization Isn’t *Technically* Defaming Anyone! Singal-Minded https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/aclu-lawyer-teehee-my-organization
Selected writing by Strangio
Strangio, Chase (February 15, 2024). Trans Visibility Is Nice. Safety Is Even Better. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/15/opinion/trans-visibility-legislative-rights.html
Media
Interesting Times with Ross Douthat and Chase Strangio (December 4, 2025). The Shifting Politics of Transgender Rights | Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-f_n9ou8vE
Fourth Act Film (July 17, 2025). Heightened Scrutiny Official Trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoGi3_LsLDw
The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder, David Weigel, and Chase Strangio (June 25, 2025). Zohran Defeats Cuomo; SCOTUS’ Twisted Skrmetti Ruling w/ David Weigel, Chase Strangio. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jceev3DR_Pg
Adam Conover with Chase Strangio (January 29, 2025). Trump’s Attacks on Trans Rights with Chase Strangio. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD7IfwyRleY
VICE News with Chase Strangio (April 6, 2023). Chase Strangio on Anti-Trans Attacks, Legislation and Hope. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osrBHXCvHok
Resources
ACLU (aclu.org)
- Chase Strangio
- aclu.org/bio/chase-strangio
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Heightened Scrutiny (heightenedscrutinydoc.com)
X/Twitter (x.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Medium (medium.com)